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Thank for sending this.

P.S. Do you really think avocados taste like soap?

I smiled and typed out a short response.

Unfortunately, yes.

I was surprised when she wrote back only a few minutes later.

That’s so sad. You’ll never experience the joy of guacamole.

I grinned and responded:

I know. You should feel terribly sorry for me.

I kept going back and forth between my email and the documents I was supposed to be reading when finally another message came through.

I actually do. See you tomorrow at bingo :)

Why was I grinning like a fool? I liked Rinnie in a way that concerned me because I’d never felt this intense urge to get to know an employee before. I mean, I’d made a rule of never dating anyone who worked for me, but it was easy to stick to because no one had ever tempted me. Well, I’d briefly dated an interior designer named Brenda who worked on the interiors for our Cork hotel, but she hadn’t technically been an employee, only a contractor.

We’d gone on a few dates before things had fizzled out, but with Rinnie, it was different. She was constantly in my head. I had to talk myself out of finding reasons to pay a visit to her office several times a day. Every time I let my mind wander, it would start coming with suggestions like, why don’t you go ask Rinnie how she’s finding things? Or if I was grabbing myself a coffee, I’d have to stop myself from making her a flat white and bringing it to her.

This was uncharted territory for me, and the worst part was that I knew as soon as she found out that we were firing her brother-in-law the energy between us would shift. Before I met with Cooke tomorrow, I was going to have to find Rinnie and fill her in. Dread wound its way around my gut. I already felt bad about letting him go, but the fact that he was Rinnie’s brother-in-law made it ten times worse. I always hated firing people. It was honestly one of the worst parts of running a business, and no part of me enjoyed being the bearer of bad news.

I should’ve said something to Rinnie when we spoke on the beach, but I’d been so caught up in our conversation, had enjoyed the opportunity to get to know a little about her, and then before I had the chance to say anything about the chef, her phone had rung.

So now I had two uncomfortable conversations to have tomorrow. One with Rinnie and then another with Diarmuid Cooke.

I had a restless night’s sleep, and my alarm went off way too early, but I needed to get up because it was over an hour’s drive to the Astor Cove. When I got there, I immediately headed to Rinnie’s office, only to be informed by Katy that her cat was sick, and she’d had to take a few personal hours to bring the animal to the vet. Wonderful. So, she was already having a crappy day, and I was certain to make it even worse.

“She said she’d be in by eleven,” Katy said, and I nodded.

“Thanks. I’ll find her when she’s here.”

Unfortunately, I had too much work on that morning and didn’t have the chance to seek out Rinnie until after lunch. That was when Becky sauntered into my office with a hopeful expression and some paperwork that needed to be looked over.

“It’s hot today. Would you like an iced coffee?” she asked as I finished up a call with the landscaper I’d hired to renew the hotel gardens. They’d done an amazing job adding new plants and trees while conserving what was already there, but I needed them to come and put a few finishing touches to the flower beds before the big reopening.

“No, thank you,” I replied and noticed her hovering in the doorway. “Was there something else?”

“Well, it’s just that human bingo started a few minutes ago, but I wasn’t sure if you still planned on taking part?”

Ah, crap. With the day I was having, I wasn’t particularly in the mood to play a getting-to-know-you game with my new staff, but it would be bad form not to turn up. Standing, I grabbed my suit jacket.

“Lead the way,” I said, and her smile widened. Becky was a social butterfly and was clearly excited for the event. I was normally very social too, but I still felt like shite over the news I had to break today, so my usual cheerfulness was low.

Not to mention, I still hadn’t found the chance to speak with Rinnie.

When I walked into the function room, almost everyone had already arrived. My brother was there, surrounded by a number of female staff members, which was no surprise. The fact that his wedding band was blatantly visible didn’t seem to deter them from peppering him with questions and giggling flirtatiously at his responses. On the surface, he appeared cool and approachable, but if I knew anything about my brother, it was that he was hating every minute of this exercise. It wasn’t that he didn’t like people, it was just that, given the choice, he’d always prefer to be spending time with his wife, Milly, and their kids, Pablo, Gigi and Deirdre.

Katy stood near the door handing out bingo sheets to those who entered, while Rinnie was on the other side of the room fussing over a refreshments table. My heart skipped a beat when I saw her, and one part of me felt like going over there and getting the bad news out quick. But my selfish side wanted to enjoy her liking me for a little bit longer. Maybe I could just wait until the end of bingo to tell her.

“Ah, you made it,” Katy said, handing me a sheet. “Have fun!”

“Aren’t you playing?” someone asked, and I turned to find the sous chef, Lou, looking at her. He folded his arms, a smirk shaping his lips as he gazed down at her. If my father ever clocked eyes on this guy, he’d say something like, In my day we called neck tattoos job stoppers because no one would ever hire you if you had one. Well, those days were over because my new sous chef was covered in ink, though Moira said he’d taken to the training like a duck to water. Plus, he hadn’t started any more mutinies, so there was no cause to let him go just yet.

“I helped organise the game, so I know all the answers,” Katy replied, a faint tinge of red staining her cheeks.